Vito Winstrate said:
Here's the Japanese generation table:
Original Generation Pok?mon Games: Red, Green.
1.1 Generation: Blue (changed graphics)
1.2 Generation: Yellow (starring Pikachu/Adds Game Boy Color support)
2nd Generation: Gold and Silver
2.1 Generation: Crystal (bigger Johto storyline - Suicune/Only for Game Boy Color)
3rd Generation: Ruby and Sapphire (released on the Game Boy Advance)
4th Generation/1.3 Generation: Fire Red and Leaf Green
I really think when talking about FR/LG that we're talking about a 3.1 generation game. If you're going to version everything, then it really has the most to do with the software side. The screenshots I've seen of FR/LG so far look a LOT like the same graphics we saw in Ru/Sa. And from the sounds of it, much of the other featuresets will be coming from the Ru/Sa codebase. But a LOT of all this is speculation right now... I'm getting my brother in Tokyo to send me a Japanese GBA and copies of FR/LG as a belated birthday and Christmas present so I can find out for sure though. (Thank goodness I know some Japanese and can look up what I don't know...)
As far as what the game will have... I strongly suspect that this game will occur in the same timeline as Ru/Sa, which means well after the original R/B/Y games. I think it will have a completely redone storyline, that the maps will be more detailed, we will have a lot more features in-line with the Ru/Sa games, and that we may very well have Johto and Kanto though NOT Hoenn. I believe the approach Nintendo/GameFreak will take with these games is to give us an "everything but Hoenn" side of the 3rd generation software. I don't truly believe this will be a "4th Generation" set of games. I also strongly feel that these games will have the original 250+ Pokemon from G/S/C, not just the first 150+ from R/B/Y. Only time and testing will tell though...
As for 4th generation... I think one of two things is going to have to happen. Either we get a whole new game with lots of great new features and Pokemon, or we get the Pokemon Ultimate, which will conglomerate Kanto, Johto and Hoenn into one huge game and have all 380+ Pokemon plus some more new ones scattered about. Given the way Nintendo and GameFreak works, and considering how the Japanese mindset works, I really think we're most likely to get a whole new deal this time around. But you never know, three's company and four's a crowd, so sometimes it's best to just make the three closer. It's also important to note that Pokemon has always been the impetus behind selling millions of GameBoy units worldwide, and it's the number one reason GameBoys are sold. If Nintendo plans to release yet another generation of newer handheld systems (I don't see how they could at this point...) then they will need a brave new Pokemon game with newer, better features to sell that unit.
Stylewise, Japan tends to be about 10 years behind the US, when they do copy Western culture... And about ten years ago here in the US, retro was the in-thing. FR/LG may just be the game world expression of retro, but I know it will be a much more grand game than the original R/B/Y games in any event. I'm looking forward to them, and when I get the Japanese versions I'll let folks know what it looks like and how it plays. =)